1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to vending and game machines and, more particularly, is concerned with a coin-operated item vending and game apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Coin-operated vending machines have been popular for many years. Gum ball machines have been a favorite type of coin-operated vending machine. Various gum ball machines have been developed. Some gum ball machines have games associated with them. Other types of coin-operated vending machines also have games associated with them. Still other types of coin-operated machines are just games or coin banks.
Representative examples of coin-operated item vending machines and other coin-operated machines are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 553,078 to Smith et al., U.S. Pat. No. 1,138,261 to Troidl, U.S. Pat. No. 2,606,088 to Leaf, U.S. Pat. No. 2,675,238 to Leaf, U.S. Pat. No. 2,959,415 to Peterson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,243,227 to Strongin, U.S. Pat. No. 4,297,807 to Buettner, U.S. Pat. No. 4,487,414 to Karkkainen et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,435 to Peretz and U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,828 to Smathers et al. In particular, the Smith et al., Troidl and Leaf patents disclose vending machines, including gum ball machines, which have games associated with them, and the Peretz patent is just a game machine. While each of these prior art vending and/or game machines may be satisfactory in use for the specific purposes for which they were designed, none of these prior art machines seem to combine a coin-operated item vending machine and a game in an optimally effective way to encourage use of the vending machine.
Consequently, a need remains for an apparatus which provides a solution to the aforementioned problem in the prior art without introducing any new problems in place thereof.